Every step in human progress, from the first feeble stirrings in the abyss of time, has been opposed by the great majority of men. Every valuable thing that has been added to the store of man's possessions has been derided by them when it was new, and destroyed by them when they had the power. They have fought every new truth ever heard of, and they have killed every truth-seeker who got into their hands.
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He who will not reason, is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is read more
He who will not reason, is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave.
The less satisfaction we derive from being ourselves, the greater is our desire to be like others.
The less satisfaction we derive from being ourselves, the greater is our desire to be like others.
Opposition to the truth is inevitable, especially if it takes the form of a new idea, but the degree of read more
Opposition to the truth is inevitable, especially if it takes the form of a new idea, but the degree of resistance can be diminished- by giving thought not only to the aim but to the method of approach. Avoid a frontal attack on a long established position; instead, seek to turn it by flank movement, so that a more penetrable side is exposed to the thrust of truth. But, in any such indirect approach, take care not to diverge from the truth- for nothing is more fatal to its real advancement than to lapse into untruth.
Habits are to the soul what the veins and arteries are to the blood, the courses in which it moves.
Habits are to the soul what the veins and arteries are to the blood, the courses in which it moves.
A dream is a scripture, and many scriptures are nothing but dreams.
A dream is a scripture, and many scriptures are nothing but dreams.
Ideals are very often formed in the effort to escape from the hard task of dealing with facts, which is read more
Ideals are very often formed in the effort to escape from the hard task of dealing with facts, which is the function of science and art. There is no process by which to reach an ideal. There are no tests by which to verify it. It is therefore impossible to frame a proposition about an ideal which can be proved or disproved. It follows that the use of ideals is to be strictly limited to proper cases, and that the attempt to use ideals in social discussion does not deserve serious consideration.
There is a guilty conscience behind every brazen word and act and behind every manifestation of self-righteousness.
There is a guilty conscience behind every brazen word and act and behind every manifestation of self-righteousness.
...aesthetic values are changed under the influence of sexual emotion; from the lover's point of view many things are beautiful read more
...aesthetic values are changed under the influence of sexual emotion; from the lover's point of view many things are beautiful which are unbeautiful from the point of view of him who is not a lover, and the greater the degree to which the lover is swayed by his passion the greater the extent to which his normal aesthetic standard is liable to be modified.
Quite often in history action has been the echo of words. An era of talk was followed by an era read more
Quite often in history action has been the echo of words. An era of talk was followed by an era of events. The new barbarism of the twentieth century is the echo of words bandied about by brilliant speakers and writers in the second half of the nineteenth.
